Daily Brief – USA and the UK: 2 different tales

USA and the UK: 2 different tales

Last week hedge fund tyro and super successful business builder Ken Griffin of Citadel gave a powerful interview on Bloomberg TV. One of his well-made points was that Europe needs to become more businesslike and encourage and applaud business. We took a look at the Top 50 World Companies: Top 10 80% USA; Top 20 85%; Top 30 and Top 40 73% And Top 50 70%. Enough said: no need for MAGA when it comes to building big in business.
That interview was followed by an excellent piece in the FT at the end of the week by Paul Marshall, also a hedge fund maestro as Chairman of Marshall Wace. His thrust was a bit different and focused on the UK. His point was that Brexit was not wrong, but that the execution of the decision most definitely has been deeply flawed and that was due to our leaders not being up to it. That poor execution has been compounded by a series terrible decisions including but not limited to: raising Corporation Tax to 25%, missing the bus on AI, lazily adopting the EU’s GDPR rules instead of designing UK centric regulations and lastly by failing to encourage innovation and investment. Hardly seasonal fare but very hard to disagree with.

GBP/USD 1.3422.

Ice Hotels

If you feel that this Christmas is insufficiently bracing for you to capture the true experience of a White Christmas, you could take yourself off once the travel madness has died down in January to stay in an Ice Hotel. Hotel de Glace near Montreal, Canada will cost you EUR 500 a night or Zermatt, Switzerland at the Iglu-Dorf where rates start for two at EUR 450 for dinner, bed and breakfast are options as is Finland’s Apukka Resort where you can check in for EUR 400 a night.

GBP/EUR 1.1431.

Grizedale

Alternatively and nearer to home, take yourself to the Lake District and to the Grizedale Forest where a new observatory has been opened. Stargazing without the downside of light pollution plus a year-round astronomy and stargazing experience is on offer set in the middle of stunning scenery. All just off the M6 rather than dealing with the dreaded EES and crowded airports and a hop and a skip from Kendal. What’s not to like?

EUR/JPY 184.69.

Oil and Petrol

With the news in the Caribbean over the US actions against Venezuela earlier in the week, it is time to take a look at the price of Brent Crude which is up on tensions and fears of a wider fallout in that region. Brent is now at USD61. The average forecast for 2026 is USD55 which means that energy prices should be lower for householders in the next 12 months. Quite a bit of chat that petrol forecourts are not passing on the reduction in their costs to motorists. Driving home for Christmas has shown a wide variety of pricing for 1 litre of unleaded with a low of GBP1.319 and a high of GBP1.599 at Shell Cobham – reassuringly expensive for stockbroker belt motorists. At the other end of the price curve and for those keen to shark in for the cheapest petrol in the UK, they should head for Northern Ireland where 1 litre can be had for GBP1.289.

EUR/USD 1.1734.

Livin’ La Vida Loca

It was of course this day in 1971 that Ricky Martin was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Get those dancing shoes on and channel your inner Ricky. Here it is:

She’s into superstitions
Black cats and voodoo dolls
I feel a premonition
That girl’s gonna make me fall

She’s into new sensations
New kicks in the candlelight
She’s got a new addiction
For every day and night

She’ll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain
She’ll make you live her crazy life, but she’ll take away your pain
Like a bullet to your brain
Come on!

Upside, inside out
She’s livin’ la vida loca
She’ll push and pull you down
Livin’ la vida loca
Her lips are devil red
And her skin’s the color mocha
She will wear you out
Livin’ la vida loca
Come on!

Happy Christmas!

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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